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The Audio Publishers Association reports that audiobooks help build and enhance literacy skills in children such as fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. That in effect leads to improved reading scores. What’s more a great deal of people have difficulty reading for a myriad of reasons. Those reasons oft times include visual impairment, dyslexia, or any myriad of issues. Despite those facts stated above, I’ve long resisted turning my debut children’s book, Dear Daughter: A L

Markeeter E Knox is a wife, mother, and educator. She’s a philanthropist, champion of diverse communities, mentor, and a veteran of the US Air Force. One of her goals in life is to ensure that children feel like they’re loved particularly young ladies. She’s releasing her first ever book, I Scream You Scream: We All Learn About Ice Cream with respect to those reasons stated above. She wrote this book in concert with her 6-year-old daughter, Trinity. Readers will join them on

My debut children’s book, Dear Daughter was selected as one of the books of the month by Next Chapter Bookstore for inclusion in their book club. Next Chapter Bookstore is located inside of Ben’s Boyz in Greensboro, NC. Their book club is entitled Cornbread and a Book. My understanding is that yesterday was the young lady depicted in the photos first day of school and that she couldn’t leave the store without starting to read Dear Daughter. But not only that, she took time to

Markeeter E. Knox will release her first ever book, I Scream You Scream: We All Learn About Ice Cream on July 23, 2022. She wrote it in concert with her 6-year-old daughter, Trinity Z. Ellison. Readers will join them on a fun adventure in learning how multicultural children fit into this diverse world. She will be doing a first look at it during a visit to Two Scoops Creamery, Rock Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2022. Attendees will receive a discount on their ice cream orders. Th

Markeeter E. Knox will be releasing her first ever book, I Scream You Scream: We All Learn About Ice Cream very soon. She wrote it in concert with her 6-year-old daughter, Trinity. Readers of this book will join them on a fun adventure in learning how mixed ethnicity children fit into this diverse world. This book, published by The Rules of a Big Boss LLC will officially launch at Super Icy Brothers. Best of all, CN2 News is coming out to cover her in a story regarding the pr

My daughter, Haelee (not pictured) and stopped by the dollar store following our workout yesterday. Sheryl Smiley-Oliphant (also known as the activity author) sent us on a mission to gather materials so that Haelee and could spend time together creating crafts. The crafts are based off of my award winning children’s book: Dear Daughter: a love story. What I didn’t know, was that I was going to throw everything in the bag and go for broke in the dollar store. I kid you not whe

Sheryl Smiley-Oliphant (also known as The Activity Author) has been featured on WCNC News. She is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University and the University of North Carolina Charlotte where she majored in Theater Arts. Sheryl is a drama and theater arts teacher in the Charlotte Mecklenburg County School System. She also hosts a YouTube Channel via her alias where she encourages families to spend time creating together. Sheryl creates original crafts that are center

Yesterday was huge because I got to see my daughter complete middle school. But not only that, she won a character award for open mindedness. I also got to meet the boy that she likes. He’s not pictured however. She and I closed out the day and kicked off her summer break with her hosting a vision board party for teens at Durham County Main Library. I asked if she needed help delivering it but she assured me that she could handle it. As a matter of fact, I got kicked out and

Something magical happened on April 22, 2022 following my daughter, Haelee’s visit to Rock Hill Virtual Academy. Markeeter Knox, Kindergarten Teacher, Rock Hill Virtual Academy reached out to me and told me that she wants to write two books. One of them would be her memoir and the other would be a children’s book. The children’s book would be for biracial children and diverse populations. But not only that, she shared that her 6 year old princess, Trinity was inspired by Hael

Rachel Boyd is a general assignment reporter for Spectrum News. She originally hails from Tampa Florida, but she relocated to Wilmington, NC after interning with Spectrum in July 2020. One of the favorite parts of Rachel’s job is showcasing the amazing things people have seen and done in their lives. Rachel is inspired by the stories that she hears so she loves making those stories heard, especially ones that have been buried under the surface for years. Rachel stopped by Ben

Virtuous Cornwall is an alumni of Rutgers University. She’s a military wife, mother, and the CEO/Founder of VNC Books. Writing is her passion and she gears it towards children and families. Her latest book, This is our History takes children on a journey to Africa, Elkins Castle, and so much more. While the book primarily targets people of African diaspora, it actually features characters of all ethnicities. It doesn’t paint one or the other in a bad light because it’s beyond

Forsyth County Public Library is a consortium of 10 public libraries nestled throughout Winston Salem, NC. They are leaders in lifelong learning through community engagement and innovative programming that focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. With that in mind, Lara Luck, Collection Development Supervisor and her team, hand selected 20 authors from across the state to participate in their local author fair. I’m absolutely humbled and honored that my daughter and I were

Those that know me know that I always wanted a daughter. My reasoning was that she would love me unconditionally. I believed that would help fill the hole that was in my heart. God heard my prayers and made it so in giving me the most beautiful baby girl on October 18, 2007. Haelee told me during the midst of an argument that she wasn’t exactly sure if I loved her because my words didn’t match my actions. She reminded me that I told her that a boy that says that he loves her

Today marks the conclusion of Black Children’s Book Week and it’s a momentous occasion for me. The reason being is that I will be doing my first ever in person reading of my best selling and award winning children’s book, Dear Daughter at Next Chapter Bookstore (located inside of Ben’s Boyz). For those that are unaware, I wrote this book in an effort to clean up what I messed up (Ref: The Canton Spirituals) with my daughter in not being mindful that words of affirmation is he

Dave and the Borrowers Podcast was started three seasons ago because Randolph County Library was closed due to Covid. David Bare, Teen Services Librarian shared with me that they wanted to continue to promote literacy and community while they were closed hence his colleagues and himself came up with the idea of starting a podcast. The podcast is an open table discussion between librarians and the community. They invite community leaders to provide commentary on history, liter

I oft times hear that I’m a good dad. I suppose their sentiments are predicated on the fact that I’ve been raising my daughter, Haelee as a single parent since she was a toddler. Haelee and I have been on enumerate adventures since I was given custody of her in the summer of 2010. Some of those adventures included peaks and some of those included valleys. I did all that I could to show her that I love(d) her throughout each season through my actions. I failed as a parent howe

Virtuous Cornwall is an alumni of Rutgers University. She was born in the United States but was raised in Ghana, West Africa. She’s a military wife and the CEO and founder of VNC Books. Writing is her passion and she gears it towards children and families. Virtuous especially caters towards those in the inner city. She gave me a wonderful birthday gift on February 19, 2022. That gift was an opportunity to share my love of being a #GirlDad with members of Club 4 Kids on Clubho

Dear Daughter: A Love Story is an expressive story that reveals my heart through a series of short love letters to my daughter Haelee. I wrote this story not only for her but for daughters across the world. I want every woman and girl that reads it to know that I love each one of them through an extension of Haelee in being her dad. I want to help shift the paradigm of black men not taking care of their children especially their daughters in doing so. The magic of it is that